Dan Shapiro, the US ambassador to Israel, posted his Ice Bucket Challenge video on Aug. 17, before the State Department’s ban.
The State Department is throwing cold water on the “Ice Bucket Challenge” — barring its employees from participating in the viral charity phenomena.
Two days after US Ambassador to Israel Daniel Shapiro uploaded a YouTube video of him taking the challenge and nominating UN Ambassador Samantha Power, a diplomatic cable went out forbidding high-ranking officials from the ALS awareness campaign.
“On a personal level, it is often difficult for us, as concerned citizens, to pick and chose among many worthy charities, particularly those that fight life-threatening disease,” read a memo sent from Secretary of State John Kerry’s office addressed to all US ambassadors on Tuesday.
“It is even more difficult when high-ranking State Department personnel with high-profile positions are asked to participate in charitable fund-raising, and concerns about preference and favoritism always arise.”
Similar rules are also in place for Congress members, who are forbidden from using official resources for charity endorsements.
Some congressional leaders tried to scrub any evidence of their participation on Wednesday.
Representatives like John Lewis (D-Ga.) and Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) erased their YouTube videos, while Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Mark Meadows (R-NC) deleted their tweets.
President Obama declined to pour a bucket of ice-cold water on himself, but ponied up $100 for an undisclosed ALS charity after he was nominated last week by Ethel Kennedy, the widow of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
ALS Association spokeswoman Kathi Kromer acknowledged the congressional rules but said, “The purposes of the campaign is to raise awareness of this disease [a k a Lou Gehrig’s disease], which has no . . . effective treatment, no cure and is 100 percent fatal.”
The ALS Association has seen a 1,000-percent increase in donations from last year at this time and raised $10.3 million — a single-day record — on Wednesday.
In the challenge, participants dump a bucket of ice-cold water over their heads or make a donation. Most donate regardless.